With a passion for music that started in the late 1930s when she was known far and wide as the little girl who could play piano before she could even read, Doloris Williams came to San Antonio with her husband as a star performer with Hollywood credentials.

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It was 1952, and she played everything from gospel to boogie-woogie. She even was featured on the emerging new medium of television, but it was encouragement from the late NAACP leader Ethel Minor that led her to what would become her life's work: musical matriarch of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

“These days, we have musicians who are gifted, but they're looking for the next best thing,” said the Rev. Kenneth R. Kemp, Antioch's pastor. “She's never been that way. She's stayed and developed with the church and has a reputation that goes beyond Antioch, to the entire community, city and the nation, but she's grounded here at Antioch church.”

“Mama Dee,” as she was affectionately named by a young choir student years ago, has inspired four generations of young people and continues to light up the church at age 80.

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“I love people and my greatest love is for children,” Williams said. “I've just been blessed; it pays to treat others with respect, it'll come back to you.”

She recalls how her mother, Victoria Blair, a devout church member and musician herself, allowed her to try all types of music. But it was Minor who encouraged her to teach herself to play the organ. That's when spirituals trumped playing the blues.

A retired physical education teacher, she's now director of intergenerational music, playing for the women's choir on the third Sunday of each month and the senior choir once every several Sundays.

To honor her dedication to children, the church named the choir for children 4 to 9 years old Dee's Angels.

In February, she'll celebrate 60 years at Antioch. She also has many roles in the community. She performs her one-woman praise dance at churches and luncheons and plays for the Baptist Ministers Union of San Antonio.

Outside of church, she's active in her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.

On Saturday, the local chapter of the NAACP will honor Williams during its annual banquet at the University of the Incarnate Word for her years as a community musician.

Ten years ago, the late Rev. E. Thurman Walker asked Williams to lead a conference geared for seniors 63 and older. The free seminar has grown from seven to now 30 vendors, and provides information on topics including home improvements, Social Security, health and Medicare. More than 250 people and representatives from 58 churches attended the last conference.

In 2008, after her husband, Oscar Williams, died, she created Citywide Widow Ladies with a Hattitude to help widows ease their grief through sharing with each other. They meet every three months, raise funds through a costume gala and bond on train and shopping trips.

Williams is a colon cancer survivor of 33 years. She said that during her recovery, she promised the Lord if she ever had a chance to play music again, she'd give it everything she had. “I just love it,” she said. “It was a great feeling. It's like the Lord answered my prayers.”

Johnetta Page, minister of music and arts, said Williams is faithful in all she does.

Sometimes during a Sunday service, the voices and organ swell to a mighty pitch, and Williams is swept up in the Holy Spirit. She'll rise and celebrate in the aisles, thankful she can share her gift in the church she calls home.

When the spirit moves her, the organ may be silent but the choir keeps singing and musicians keep playing. And like she's taught them, they never miss a beat.